45:27-33 Reclamation of grave, crypt.

33. a. A cemetery company may reclaim a grave or crypt if:

(1) the cemetery company sold the grave or crypt before December 1, 1971;

(2) no provision has been made for the adequate maintenance of the grave or crypt;

(3) no burial has been made in the grave or crypt; and

(4) no burial has been made for 30 years in the plot that includes the grave or crypt.

For the purposes of this section, "adequate maintenance" has been provided if the grave or crypt was sold with perpetual care, endowed care, or a similar level of care, or if the owner of the grave or crypt has made other provision for that care.

b. To reclaim a grave or crypt, a cemetery company shall:

(1) make a diligent effort to locate the owners and notify them that they may prevent the cemetery from reclaiming the grave or crypt by sending a written objection to the cemetery company within 30 days;

(2) if the cemetery company cannot locate the owners, publish a notice in a newspaper circulating in the county in which the grave or crypt is located, directed to the owners as registered in the cemetery company's records, containing the names of each deceased person buried in the plot that includes the grave or crypt and date of each burial, where such information is ascertainable. The notice shall advise that if the owners do not send a written objection within 30 days the grave or crypt will be subject to resale.

c. If a written objection has not been filed with the cemetery within 30 days after notice or publication, the cemetery may sell the grave or crypt. The sales price less sales commissions and expenses of sale, but in no event less than three-fourths of the gross sales price, shall be deposited in the Maintenance and Preservation Fund.

d. At any time, a person proving ownership of a grave or crypt reclaimed and sold in accordance with this section may either agree to take a comparable grave or crypt in the cemetery or may make application to the board for an order directing the cemetery company to reimburse the owner the proceeds of the sale that were deposited into the Maintenance and Preservation Fund.

L.2003,c.261,s.33.